


condensed breaths. | [Day 2]

by kihyukism



Series: 30-Day Word Challenge [3]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Photography, photographer!Kihyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 15:50:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13344456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kihyukism/pseuds/kihyukism
Summary: example (noun) • \ ig-ˈzam-pəl \⤷ one that serves as a pattern to be imitated or not to be imitated a good exampleA photographer can seek out beauty in anything. Yoo Kihyun found beauty in the middle of the park in the dead of winter with the deceiving sun shining above his head. Meeting a stranger who is a natural model is just a plus.





	condensed breaths. | [Day 2]

Yoo Kihyun pulled out his camera from his bag, his gentle fingers removing the cap from the lens. He looked around his surroundings, his eyes scanning not only the nature, but the people who were spread out amongst the park. Burying his chin deeper into his scarf, he exhaled and his breath escaped through the fabric and a small white cloud slowly dissipated into the air. His fingers were beginning to turn red, his hands securely holding onto his camera as he tried to scope out a muse. He tilted his head up to the sky, his eyes squinting from the bright sun. I will never understand how it could be so cold while the sun is shining brightly above. He thinks to himself. He had his muse. He kept his head tilted up. He inhaled deeply, his elbows folded with his camera at chin level. He opened his mouth into a large ‘o’ and exhaled a long breath. Reacting quickly, he takes a step back and lifts up his camera up to his face. Squinting one eye and his right eye looking through the viewfinder, he hastily searched for his condensed breath in the sun’s light and took a few shots.

Pulling the camera away from his face, he previewed his shots and was quite pleased with what he took. He tilted his head back up and looked around once more. He wanted to find another muse in the park. As he scoped out the place, his eyes landed on a male who had a leg crossed over the other, with a book in his hands. He pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket before he reached down to pick up his bag to walk towards the stranger.

Approaching him, Kihyun puts on a smile, one that isn’t overbearing so he wouldn’t scare the stranger. Bowing politely, he cleared his throat and said a curt hello. The stranger looked up from his book and gave Kihyun a look of curiosity. “Hello, I’m Yoo Kihyun. I’m a photographer and I was wondering if I could use you as my muse…” He held out the small piece of paper that gave Kihyun the permission to photograph the stranger as his cold fingers were searching for a pen out of the side pocket from his bag. The stranger offered a small smile and nodded his head as he closed his book, keeping his finger between the pages to keep his place, reaching for the paper and pen. Kihyun fiddled with the camera strap and waited as the man filled out his form. 

Once he was finished, the man handed Kihyun back his paper and pen. Taking it between his fingers, Kihyun’s eyes read the name written in neat penmanship. “Lee Minhyuk.” _I wonder if he’s an artist…_ He thought to himself. _His handwriting is art in itself…_ He glanced up at this man, getting a good look at his face, Kihyun was taken aback about his sharp features. “Lee Minhyuk-ssi, thank you for helping me out.”

The corner of Minhyuk’s lip pulled up into a half smile. “I am honored that you chose me out of the many faces in this park… So thank you,” he responded.

Kihyun blinked, entranced by the huskiness of Minhyuk’s voice. He has never met such an intriguing stranger before. He nodded his head and cleared his throat, his breath condensing in front of his face. “Well, you can carry on what you were doing and I’ll photograph you candidly.” Minhyuk nodded his head and pushed his book open with his finger and goes back to reading like he was before he was interrupted by Kihyun.

Kihyun slid his bag off his shoulder and let it fall onto the ground with a soft thud as he pulled his camera up to adjust the settings on it. Minhyuk glanced from the corner of his eye, quietly watching Kihyun focused on his camera. “Okay…” Kihyun muttered to himself as he looked up at Minhyuk who quickly averted his eyes back to the page he was reading.  
Pulling up the camera against his face, he looked through the viewfinder and his lens made a faint whirring sound as it focused on Minhyuk’s side profile before it clicked to take the picture. Kihyun side stepped to the left to get a shot of Minhyuk from the front. This time, Kihyun focused on the book in Minhyuk’s hands.

After getting the shots he wanted he rested his camera against this torso and stuck his hands into his pockets. “Okay..” He exhaled. “This time I want to get more posed shots..” He walked around the bench to determine where he should stand to get the best shot. Kihyun stood behind the wooden bench and pulled his camera back up to his face to scope out the scene through his lens.

“Minhyuk-ssi, can you turn your head to the left and raise up your hand to your face...almost like you are going to bite your thumb nail as if you are deep in thought…” Kihyun requested of the dark-haired male.

Turning his head to the left, Minhyuk gracefully raised up his hand and rested his elbow on the edge of the bench as he touched his thumb to his bottom lip. “Perfect! Stay just like that!” Kihyun said with excitement. He was amazed Minhyuk brought his idea to life before his eyes. Kihyun focused the lens on Minhyuk. “Okay, do one more thing for me… Take in a breath and exhale deeply and slowly…” Kihyun wanted to keep his original muse in the shots with Minhyuk.

Doing so, the white cloud floated in the air out of Minhyuk’s mouth. Focusing again, Kihyun took careful shots. He checked the preview of the picture on the small screen and adjusted his settings accordingly in order to better capture the condensed breath that hits the sunlight.

“Can you hold that pose for me just a little longer and exhale a longer breath…?” He asked Minhyuk.

His model gave a slight nod of his head and adjusted himself on the bench to be more comfortable. “I’m going to exhale soon,” he warned Kihyun.

Kihyun already has his camera positioned up to his face and he was ready for his shot. Minhyuk exhaled and Kihyun held down the button and the lens clicked several times. Shifting quickly into a squa,, Minhyuk breathed out once more for Kihyun to get his shot in a different angle.

“Okay!” Kihyun exclaimed with a ring of elation. “I think those shots came out good…” He walked in front of the bench with his head tilted down as he looked through the photos.

Minhyuk nodded his head as if Kihyun could see it as he glanced down at his book. “Are you going to want more shots?” He asked quietly, wanting it to continue because he was enjoying this impromptu photoshoot.

Kihyun looked up from his camera, “If you don’t mind.. I would like to shoot from one more angle..” His eyes searched the other man’s face, hoping to get his approval.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Minhyuk smiled brightly at Kihyun.

“Has anyone told you that your smile is equivalent to the sun…?” Kihyun suddenly asked him, his voice quiet.

Minhyuk chuckled at the compliment. “Are you trying to hit on me?” He teased him, his smile turning playful.

“U-Uh no!” Kihyun laughed, his eyes turning into crescents. “I am just asking because you have a really bright smile.. It’s almost as blinding as the sun that’s shining down on us right now..”

Kihyun couldn’t help but wonder if this man’s looks were as deceiving as the sun. He may look handsome with a bright smile, but Kihyun made a mental bet that Minhyuk probably had another side to him.

Curiously, Minhyuk tilted his head to a slight degree, wondering what Kihyun had on his mind. Shaking his head, the short photographer snapped out of his head and smiled at Minhyuk. “Okay, ready?” Minhyuk responded with a curt nod. “I want you to tilt your head back and look up at the sky. Then exhale. But a really forced exhale so the cloud that leaves your lips is much larger and dramatic…”

Minhyuk decided to test out what his photographer wanted. He tilted his head back and his jaw fell open and he took in a deep breath through his opened mouth before exhaling an exaggerated breath. He opened his eyes and watched the droplets catch the sunlight. “Like that?” He directed his question towards Kihyun.

Kihyun who wasn’t watching looked up from his camera. “Huh?”

“Did you not see the puff of breath that just left my mouth?”

Holding his camera close to his chest he shook his head. “I-I’m sorry, Minhyuk-ssi. I didn’t… Care to show it again?”

Sighing, Minhyuk looked down, feeling defeated. He watched his breath swirl off his chest and disappear into nothingness. “Yeah, I’ll do it again…” He muttered.

He tilted his head back up and repeated the process once more. Releasing his breath, the white cloud dances in the air as it slowly faded away.

“That was perfect.. Just do that again a few more times, okay?” Kihyun smiled to himself, thankful that Minhyuk was able to reciprocate his vision well.

Minhyuk spread his arms on the back of the bench, his head already tilted up with his eyes squinted to keep himself from getting blinded by the sun’s brightness. He inhaled deeply, his chest rising before it fell when he exhaled. The cloud that drifted out between his lips slowly swirled upwards.

To the side, Kihyun had his finger holding down on the shutter release. Minhyuk suckd in another breath, assuming Kihyun would want to get another opportunity to get a more perfect shot. But he choked on his breath and started to cough violently. The clouds of his condensed breath came out in bursts.

“Are you okay, Minhyuk-ssi?” Kihyun asked in concern as he stepped toward him.

Minhyuk raised up a hand and nodded his head as he coughed a few more times to clear his throat from whatever itched at it. “I’m good,” his voice came out raspy, “thank you for your concern…”

Kihyun nodded his head, stepped back, and waited for Minhyuk to gather himself back up. Placing a hand on his chest, Minhyuk took deep breaths through his nose. “Okay, I’ll go again,” he talked slowly.

Getting back into character, his face softened in a serious kind of way and he placed his arms on the back of bench and tilted his head back up. He made another cloud of his breath pass through his lips and closed his eyes. He listened to the quiet click of the camera, finding a kind of peace from it. _I could get used to this modeling stuff…_ he thought to himself.

“Can you do it one last time?” Kihyun requested a final time.

Minhyuk complied and he made this one count. He sucked in a really long breath and held it between pursed lips. When he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he released his lips and let his jaw fall slack and exhaled.

Kihyun took his final shots of this beautiful scene and once he was finished, he let his camera fall softly against his jacket.  
He walked towards the bench and stopped in front of Minhyuk as he held out his hand. “Thank you for agreeing to be my model for this...and enduring the cold this long…”

Minhyuk slid his hand into Kihyun’s and held it firmly, chuckling softly over the size difference of their hands as he shook it. “It was my pleasure. I greatly enjoyed this,” he smiled at him.

Kihyun reached into his back pocket and pulled out his business card. “Keep an eye out on my social media for your shots. I’m sure I’ll be posting a lot of them,” he nodded.

Taking the card, Minhyuk’s impressed by the reflective detail on the lens—when he tilted it between his fingers—of the camera, which Minhyuk assumed it was Kihyun holding it.

Minhyuk then asked for another card and for a pen. Raising a brow, Kihyun took out another card from his pocket and shuffled to where his bag is and pulled out his pen. He took quick steps back to Minhyuk and offered it too him.

Reaching for the two objects, he placed the card on his knee and wrote down numbers on it before handing them back to Kihyun. “If you need a model again, give me a call. I’d be glad to take the opportunity.”

The photographer bowed in gratitude. “Thank you, Minhyuk-ssi! You’ll definitely be hearing from me again,” he said with a large smile.

Kihyun slipped the card and pen back into his pocket and goes to gather his stuff. He walked away as he slid a backpack strap over his shoulder, exhaling in satisfaction and watched his breath float away from his lips as Minhyuk kept an eye on Kihyun as his small figure got smaller the further away he walked. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhhhhhh. I had too much fun writing this. It took me almost a week to write because I had been sick. I’m quite pleased with the outcome. I hope everyone who read this enjoyed it as well.


End file.
